Wild Heart

The End & The Beginning

"Last day in Hawaii," James whispered as he kissed her shoulder in an attempt to wake her up. "And I have a feeling it's going to be a good one." Camila blinked her eyes open, slightly disappointed to find out that her dreams were just that: dreams.

"Yeah? What makes you think that?"

"You'll see," he replied with a smirk. She furrowed her brows at that response before reaching over and checking her phone. She was more than curious to know if Shawn had texted her at all after their encounter last night but he hadn't. "Wanna go get breakfast?"

"Sure. I'm starving."

Camila kept waiting to see Shawn all day but she never did. She tried to convince herself that it was just him being independent and spending their last day on the island exploring on his own but she couldn't get over the gut feeling that maybe he was avoiding her on purpose. After lunch, she pulled her phone out and worked up the nerve to send him a text.

C: How'd you end up deciding to spend your last day on the island?

She waited for a response but she never got one. She never heard from him at all until they arrived at dinner that night and she saw him sitting at the table with Dawn and Michael sipping on a beer.

"There are the lovebirds!" Dawn said with a smile as Camila and James approached their table and took their seats. "You two look nice." With it being their last night on the island, they had all decided to dress up. Of course only James and his parents knew the real reason they were dressed up. Camila kept glancing over towards Shawn throughout dinner, occasionally noticing that he'd already been gazing at her. He'd always quickly look away anytime she'd catch him staring. She sighed and swallowed hard, memories of the night before flooding her mind as James reached over and grabbed her hand. His thumb gently brushed over the back of her hand. The waiter came out and cleared their now empty plates. James took a deep breath; it was now or never.

"Hey," he said quietly. Camila looked over to him. Her eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat as she watched him slowly get down on one knee and pull out a small velvet box from his pocket. She didn't even hear anything that he was saying. It was just an overwhelming white noise and the sound of her own heart beat echoing through her mind. Her hands started shaking uncontrollably when she saw his lips form the words 'will you marry me'. She knew everyone was staring at her, waiting for her response. She could feel it.

She swallowed hard and lifted her eyes to look at Shawn. She knew it was a mistake but she couldn't help it. He was avoiding looking at them clearly trying to hold in all of his emotions. She looked back at James, his eyes pleading. She knew what she needed to say but she had no idea how to say it.

"I'm so sorry," she choked out before standing up and running away. She had no idea where she was going but she knew she had to get away from there. She let her heart lead the way and soon enough found herself collapsing in the sand; the same part of the beach where her and Shawn had stripped naked the night before. She pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her face in her own arms as she cried. She wasn't even crying because she was sad but because she was embarrassed. It was humiliating to run away like that but it was all just too much. Her heart couldn't handle it. She cried until she couldn't anymore but she still couldn't bring herself to move from that spot. She sat in the sand until she felt the presence of someone else standing next to her, a quiet 'hey' falling from their lips. She looked slowly looked up to see Shawn standing next to her, holding a bottle of beer out to her. She smiled softly and took the glass bottle as he sat down in the sand next to her, taking a sip from his own beer.

"Are they mad at me?"

"Of course not," he said genuinely. "I think they're just confused."

"Yeah, well...so am I."